Creating an HDR Image: Overview
Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 9
September 26, 2011
HDR (High Dynamic Range) images show the full range of light, detail and tones in a scene. When you take a photo, the camera cannot capture all the detail and tones that the eye can see in one exposure. You may lose detail in the dark parts of the image or the light parts of the image. With HDR imagery, several photos of the same scene are combined with special software to produce an image that shows the full range of tones in the scene.
To create an HDR image, you need:
- Multiple exposures of the same scene.
- Special software that combines the different exposures into one image and then enables you to tone map or edit the image to bring out the light and detail, such as Photomatix Pro.
- An editing program to finish the image like Photoshop Elements or filters such as Topaz Adjust or Topaz Details 2.
In this lesson, I will show you how I created the following HDR image:
Step 1: Capture Multiple Exposures
To create an HDR image, capture several exposures of the same scene at different values from dark to light. Many cameras have a feature called bracketing that allows you to take three or more exposures of the same scene at different exposure values with one click; for example at -2 EV, 0 EV and +2 EV. Check your camera manual to see of your camera allows bracketing. The more exposures you use, the more tones will be revealed in your HDR image.
Use a tripod or monopod to keep the camera steady so that there is no movement between images or keep the camera very steady if handheld.
For this image, I used the following three bracketed exposures of the bridge.
Exposure value: 0
Normal exposure
Exposure value: -2
Underexposed to capture detail in the highlights
Exposure value: +2
Overexposed to capture detail in the shadows
In the next step, we'll combine these three images in Photomatix Pro.
Step 2: Combine Exposures and Tone Map with Photomatix Pro
Step 3: Apply Finishing Touches in Photoshop Elements
Updated on September 26, 2011